Rami Malek stars in and produces Blackout, his first role since winning an Oscar last month for his star turn as Freddie Mercury in Bohemian Rhapsody. He is very much aware that it’s a relatively small-scale project following up the highest-profile moment of his career thus far.
“I had no idea I would win an Academy Award right before this podcast,” Malek told Fast Company recently. “It’s just the way life worked out.”
If that trajectory seems a little backwards, though, it fits right along with both the medium and the message. Malek liked the idea of helping resuscitate the lost art of the radio play, and he liked the idea of doing so with a story set in a town whose residents are suddenly reliant on radio again. (He plays a local DJ who helps keep the town calm and connected as they figure out who or what is responsible for a mysterious power outage.)
Malek had been thinking of narrative podcasts as an interesting new creative outlet…
